It can be placed on top of administration pages (not-articles) when appropriate (see WP:INFOPAGES for details). This usually means pages in the "Wikipedia:" and "Help:" namespaces, but sometimes how-to guides also exist as user subpages.

If you want to feed more than one or two shortcuts then the shortcut box becomes too high, which doesn't look good. In such a case it is better to use a {{shortcut}} box directly below this template, like this:

|1= or |sc1=, |shortcut1=, |shortcut=, or first unnamed parameter – First shortcut. Don't include [[...]] linking brackets in this or other shortcut parameters.

|2= or |sc2=, |shortcut2=, or first unnamed parameter – Second shortcut

|3= or |sc3=, |shortcut3=, or first unnamed parameter – Third shortcut (deprecated; please use separate Template:Shortcut for three or more)

|interprets= or |page= or |pages= – Specify name of page (policy, process, etc.) that this essay provides advice about. For a single page, it is not necessary to include [[...]] linking brackets;. This will replace the wording "some aspect or aspects of Wikipedia's norms and practices". If more than one page and/or any notes are intended, links must be manually coded, e.g.: |interprets=[[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] policy and the [[Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources]] guideline

|sort-by= – Specify a sort key for the category. For example, if the how-to page is Wikipedia:Producing maps with xplanet and you want it category-sorted to appear under "X", use |sort-by=Xplanet, Producing maps with. This has no effect on the user essays category.

|category= – Specify a complete wikilink (i.e, do include the [[...]] linking brackets) to one or more categories to override the default Category:Wikipedia how-to. May include a category sort; example: [[Category:WikiProject Underwater Basketweaving|Article structure advice]] This parameter does not replace the Category:User essays categorization for pages in the "User:" namespace, but can be used to add them manually to Category:Wikipedia how-to, in addition to the automatic user category.

|nocat=y or |demo=y – Bypass all categorization, when the template is used for demo purposes, e.g. in template documentation, on talk pages, etc.

|style= – Pass arbitrary CSS to the Template:Ombox metatemplate that this template uses (this should never be necessary except in complicated wikiproject layouts).